Harris gains lucrative support from fellow doctors

Medical industry feud spills over into Maryland race

September 26, 2010|By Paul West, The Baltimore Sun

Minnesota anesthesiologist Mark A. Warner freely admits he doesn't know who represents Eastern Maryland in Congress. But he knows who he wants for the job: Andy Harris, the Republican challenger to Frank Kratovil, the district's Democratic incumbent.

In his second run at the seat he missed narrowly two years ago, Harris has worked hard to raise money from fellow doctors around the country. Anesthesiologists from at least 39 states and the District of Columbia have responded by pumping more than $250,000 into his campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records, making them far and away the largest single interest fueling Maryland's most competitive House race.

About one in five dollars donated by individuals to Harris' 2010 candidacy has come from medical professionals, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in campaigns. Virtually all of that was given by anesthesiologists, one of the most politically active medical specialties.

Health care is likely to be back on the agenda in Washington next year, regardless of who controls Congress. And anesthesiologists are under growing pressure in an emerging debate about slowing the rising cost of care.

"It's important that we have somebody there [in Congress] who can be sitting at the table, not to represent the views of any particular group, but who understands how health care is delivered," said Warner, president-elect of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Harris, an obstetric anesthesiologist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, has attracted more campaign cash from health professionals than any other House challenger in the country — a field of hundreds, including 17 other physicians — according to a CRP analysis of FEC data.

The veteran state legislator from Baltimore County says he's grateful for the anesthesiologists' support, but says he would not put their interests above those of his district. Still, he added, that "whenever a physician goes to Congress, they represent the interests of their patients as well as their constituents."

Harris said he solicited campaign contributions at anesthesiology conferences in Louisiana, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. He networked with members of the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists at a San Antonio resort last September; since then, he's received more than $31,000 from Texas anesthesiologists.

In Nashville, he addressed a Tennessee Society of Anesthesiologists meeting on "emerging issues in the practice and regulation of anesthesiology." Before leaving town, he had raised at least $13,500 for his campaign from members of the doctors' group.

Harris also received valuable help from the national anesthesiologists association. Its political arm, which prides itself on being the largest medical-specialty PAC on Capitol Hill, spent $64,150 for ads promoting his candidacy during the Republican primary, FEC records show.

The simplest explanation for all this activity by anesthesiologists is that Harris is one of their own. If elected, it is believed that he'd become the first anesthesiologist to serve in Congress.

"As a doctor, Andy Harris knows better than most what we need for real health care reform," said the anesthesiologists' 60-second radio ad, which, by law, had to be produced independently of the Harris campaign.

It is the only campaign commercial the anesthesiologists' PAC has sponsored anywhere in the country this year. The PAC also gave $10,000 to Harris, the maximum allowed by law.

At the same time, a long-running feud between anesthesiologists and the specialized nurses they often supervise in administering anesthetics has spilled over into the Harris-Kratovil race.

On one professional forum online, a writer, who described himself as an attending physician and personal friend of Harris', solicited campaign contributions as a way of fighting what he termed "infringement" by the nurses on anesthesiologists' business.

Harris "is an anesthesiologist who will fight for our cause!" wrote the poster, identified only as IN2B8R. "He is a guy who can tremendously help our specialty, I hope he wins this time around!"

Kratovil has also sought to cash in on the medical industry turf war. His campaign set up a separate web page for nurse anesthetists — who often use the acronym CRNA, for certified registered nurse anesthetist — to contribute to his candidacy. Campaign manager Jessica Klonsky said it had attracted "a smattering" of $25 and $50 donations.

A nurse anesthetist in Arizona linked to the Kratovil site on a Facebook page for the nurses.

"CRNAs from around the country need to help Frank Kratovil stay in Congress to ensure that CRNAs continue to have a friend, as opposed to an enemy, on Capitol Hill," wrote Mike MacKinnon of Glendale, Ariz.

The political arm of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists has given Kratovil $10,000, a donation that didn't escape Harris' notice.